SAN ANTONIO (Ticker) -- Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs
bounced back from a disappointing performance to notch a
decisive 99-77 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

Duncan collected 21 points and 15 rebounds and led six players
that scored in double figures for the Spurs, who defeated the
Mavericks for the ninth straight time.

The effort came one day after Duncan scored just five points on
2-of-7 shooting and committed five turnovers in 38 minutes
during a surprising 93-91 home loss to the Toronto Raptors.

"After the loss last night, we had to win big," Duncan said.
"We needed to come in with a fast tempo game. ... The
back-to-back games didn't really affect us."

Duncan, who admitted to "making bad decisions and playing
horribly" Friday, had only one turnover and shot 9-of-11 from
the field to help the Spurs post their 13th win in 15 games.

"Tim competed well tonight at both ends of the floor," said
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. "He was real physical and played
demonstratively."

Michael Finley scored 17 points and Shawn Bradley added 15 and
12 boards as Dallas suffered its seventh consecutive loss on the
road and dropped its fifth straight in the Alamodome.

"We figured if anybody was going to be able to sneak up on this
team it would be us, but somebody (Toronto) beat us to it," said
Mavericks coach Don Nelson. "They were mad as hornets tonight."

Mavs forward Samaki Walker scored 16 points off the bench and
played significant minutes in place of Gary Trent, who was not
with the team due to a stomach virus.

Duncan was pivotal in a key 8-2 spurt to close the third period.
With the Spurs clinging to a 61-57 edge with 3:12 left, Antonio
Daniels sank two free throws to trigger the run. Duncan then
hit a layup and buried a short baseline jumper before putting in
another lay-in to make it 69-59 with 35 seconds to go.

To help keep the lead at double digits by the end of the third,
Duncan blocked a layup attempt by Erick Strickland and grabbed
the rebound. Duncan recorded his 20th double-double of the
season.

The bench was critical in allowing San Antonio to put away the
game early in the final period. The margin was 73-63 when
reserve Steve Kerr drilled a 19-footer to open a 10-2 spurt.

A rebound by Duncan allowed the Spurs to run, leading to Will
Perdue's layup off a feed from Antonio Daniels. Perdue added a
follow slam and Daniels converted a driving layup before finding
Mario Elie for a lay-in that made it 83-65 with 7:11 to play.

"It's easy for me to show confidence in myself because my
teammates have confidence in me," Daniels said. "I just want to
provide a spark whether that's providing energy, offense,
defense or just pushing the ball. ... I want to get the
Alamodome going crazy. I like to get people excited."

The Spurs were firmly in control the rest of the way, winning
their eighth straight divisional game despite playing for the
third time in three nights.

Elie scored 14 points while Kerr and Daniels came off the bench
for 12 and 11 points, respectively. Perdue had 11 rebounds in a
reserve role.

"The last week and a half, our bench has been huge," said Spurs
center David Robinson, who scored 11 points. "They really
change the momentum for us. Tonight, they came in and pushed our
lead even farther. Jaren (Jackson), Will, Steve and Antonio are
doing great. Our bench is our strength right now."

The Spurs atoned for a 15-of-26 effort from the foul line by
hitting 50 percent (40-of-80) from the field. They also
committed just six turnovers.

"Tonight was different from last night in that we only had (six)
turnovers," Popovich added. "We were awful from the free throw
line, but that didn't affect us. The turnovers were the
difference."

Strickland and Hubert Davis chipped in 11 points apiece for
Dallas, which shot 39.5 percent (32-of-81) from the floor.

Starter Sean Elliott scored all 11 of his points in the first
half, helping San Antonio to a 44-41 lead at the break. The
Spurs improved to 18-3 this season when leading at halftime.

"They didn't look like they played three games back-to-back.
Their fatigue didn't show," Walker said. "They responded well
in the fourth. Instead of being happy with a 10-point lead,
they wanted 20."